johnson



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

JOHNSON. GOMPENSATOR FOR SWITCH 0R SIGNAL OPERATING RODS.

No. 309,627. Patented Dec. 23, 1884.

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

H. JOHNSON.

GOMPENSATOR FOR SWITCH 0R SIGNAL. OPERATING RODS. No. 309,627. I Patented Dec. 23, 1884.

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HENRY JOHNSON, OF MANCHESTER,

COUNTY OF LANCASTER, ENG-LAND.

COMPENSATOR FOR SWITCH OR SlGNAL OPERATING RUDS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 309,627, dated December 23, 1884:.

Application filed October 13, 1884. (No model.) Patented in England December 14, 1882, No. 5,975.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY JOHNSON, a resident of Manchester, in the county of Lancaster, England, have invented a new and use i'ul improvement for counteracting or compensating for the effects of variations of temperature in metal rods for operating switches, signals, &c., of which the following is a specification, and which is included in British Letters Patent No. 5,978, dated December 14, 1882.

My invention relates to apparatus by which I am enabled to compensate for the longitudinal expansion and contraction (arising from variations of temperature) of the pipes, rods, or bars by which railway-switches and point locking apparatus, signals, and other similar devices are connected with the hand-levers or other means by which they are actuated.

The invention consists, essentially, in an apparatus for operating switches, point-locking devices, signals, and other analogous devices, comprising the combination, with two rod or bar sections, one of which is connected with the device to be operated, and a hand-lever or handle connected with the other rod or bar section, said sections being arranged to overlap and provided with racks on their adjacent faces, of a pinion interposed between and gearing with said racks, and a case or box in which the pinion is supported and the rod or bar sections are guided, the said rod or bar sections serving to transmit motion from the hand-lever or handle to the device to be operated, as more fully hereinafter de scribed.

Figure l is a View, partly in elevation and partly in section, of an apparatus constructed according to my invention. Fig. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view taken on the line aa: of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a plan view of the same. Fig. 4is a side elevation of the same. Fig. 5 is a transverse vertical sectional view showing several pairs of overlapping bar-sections in section and the interposed pinions, and Fig; 6 is a diagram representing a system of switches operated by a hand-lever through a compensating device or apparatus of the hind described.

Similar letters of reference denote corresponding parts in all the figures.

At A A. are timbers or other supports secured firmly to the ground, and extending from one to the other of these isa cross-piece,

B, to which is secured, by means of screws,

bolts, spikes, or in any other convenient and suitable way, a box or frame, 0. \Vithin this box or frame 0 is a pinion-wheel, D, having journals a, carried by and capable of being rotated in bearings constructed within projecting parts E, formed upon the interior of the box or frame 0.

At F is a barsection, squared portions of which, F F, pass through openings of corresponding form in the end 0 O of the box or frame 0, such openings serving as guides through which the bar-section F may slide longitudinally. Upon the upper side of the bar-section F is formed a rack, f, which gears into the pinion D.

Passing longitudinally through the upper part of the box or frame 0 is another bar-section, G, squared portions of which, G G pass through openings of corresponding form in the ends O C of the box or frame O,which openings serve as guides in which the barseotion (r may slidelongitudinally. Thelower face of the bar-section G is provided with a rack, gearing into the pinion D.

The manner of connecting the rods F G will be readily understood from Fig. 6.

J J designate the main tracks, and J a crossing having switclrpoints g, which are connected by a rod, 9, and bell-crank lever g", with the rod G", whichis formed with the barsection G.

K designates a hand-lever or handlc,which 'is connected by the rod and bell-crank 75 k with the rod F", extending from the bar-see tion F. I have also shown other switchpoints, 72., as connected by a rod and bellcrank, h h with the rod F but these latter are not necessarily employed in my invention. The rods F Gr are shown. as tubular for the sake of lightness.

I place my improved apparatus about mid way between the switch-points and the handlever or other device by which the switch is actuated.

Assuming that in the position of the parts, as shown, the points are closed, then upon moving the mechanism by which the points are actuated, so that the bar-section F is moved in the direction of the arrow b, the rack f,

, duced and the switch-points closed.

formed upon its upper side, meshing into and operating upon the pinion D, will cause it to revolve in the direction of the arrow 0, and the other side of the pinion engaging with and acting upon the rack 9, formed upon the lower face of the bar-section G, will cause that barsection to move in the direction of the arrow (1, and also move the switch-points which are connected to this bar-section. By reversing the motion of the hand-lever or other actuating mechanism a reverse effect will be pro- If there be an increase of atmospheric temperature, the bar-section F and the rod F, attached to the hand-lever or other actuating mechanism, and the bar-section G and the rod G connected with the switch-points,wi1l expand or lengthen in the direction of the arrows s and t, respectively, and'this, causing the pinion D to rotate in the direction of the arrow it, affords ample room for such expansion without sensibly alterin g the aggregate lengths of the rods or bars from the actuating mechanism to the switchpoints. Should the atmospheric temperature decrease, a reverse effect will be produced in the same way, without in any sensible degree interfering with the aggregate length of the bars or rods from the actuating mechanism to the switch-points, and thus expansion and contraction will not interfere with the uniform operation of the switch and its signals and accompanying apparatus.

Fig. 5 illustrates an arrangement of pairs of rack-faced bar-sections G- l with the interposed pinions D, such as is hereinbefore described, which, while they are all inclosed within the same box or frame, are so constructed that each pair of bar-sections and their interposed pinion may be worked alone and independently of all the others, the action of the one pair not being in any way controlled or modified by any of the others.

The box or frame in Fig. 5 is provided at intervals in its width with standards or upward projections E", which support the bearings for the pinion-journals a and separate the bar-sections F G.

In assembling the several parts of the appa: ratus the bar-section F is first slid longitudinally into place through the guiding-openings in the ends 0 O? of the box or frame. The pinion D is then placed in position, and the bar-section G is then slid into place.

In order to permit the bar-section G to he slid over the pinion, the guide in the end 0 is open at the top, and is closed by a cap, 0*, secured by bolts 0.

That I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

In apparatus for operating switches, point locking apparatus, signals, and analogous devices, the combination, with two rod or bar sections, one of which is connected with the device to be operated, and a hand-lever or operating-handle connected with the other rod or bar section, said sections being arranged to overlap each other and provided with racks on their adjacent faces, of a pinion interposed between and gearing with said racks, and a case or box in which the pinion is supported and the rod or bar sections guided, the said rod or bar sections serving'to transmit motion from the hand-lever or handle to the device to be operated, substantially as herein described.

HENRY JOHNSON.

\Vitnesses:

CHAS. R. ALLEN, Solicitor-and Notary Public, Mlmclzestcr.

J OSEPH HOWARTH,

His Clerk. 

